國際美食民宿 BnB of International cuisine

我們真的很白痴…到了Sucre兩天，才驚訝地發現原來玻利維亞的首都不是La Paz,而是Sucre。

Sucre比La Paz感覺小很多，但市中心的房屋很漂亮，跟La Paz的風格截然不同。

最有趣反倒是我們住的民宿。

到達的第一晚因為在路上遇上大塞車，晚了兩個多小時才到。剛到已是晚飯時間,到達便看到一外國男孩在做蔬菜批，另外有一個韓國女孩比我們也是早一點點才到。於是,當晚我們就一起吃了兩大個蔬菜批做晚餐,再一邊聊天。聊天時發現做飯的男孩和他的女朋友是在這裡工作的,和主人家是朋友。他們說這裏很多客人做菜,所以也留下了很多各國使用的醬料,例如有一位日本老太太,每天都來這裡,會特意坐飛機到Santa Cruz買新鮮的日本食材回來做日本菜,所以他們這裡連壽司米也有!

因為第一天受了別人的款待,所以第二天換我們做了一頓中菜。我做了大盤的蠔油西蘭花炒牛肉和手撕包菜。因為女主人Bertha說有蠔油但不知道怎麼用,所以我就用來炒了牛肉。

正在炒菜時,我想起有米飯配會好一點,就問Bertha,她去買了點米回來煮飯。其實我到了玻利維亞後,覺得他們的飯很難吃,很「削」,今天終於知道其中一個原因…就是他們煮飯的方法。他們煮飯煮到水開了,會把鍋裏的水全部倒掉,再用清水過兩次,再放入新的水繼續煮,據說是要洗走米的黏性,怪不得飯這麼「削」….我放棄吃他們的飯了。

這天晚上,因為是星期一,主人的朋友沒有來,換了今天剛到的兩位德國客人。也因為他們受了我們的款待,說明天要為我們做飯!!

結果,第三天的晚上,我們就吃了炸肉丸,白汁煮大葱,和一大鍋的薯蓉!! Stephanie說這個肉丸是她小時侯常吃的菜,而且我還知道他們會在做肉丸時加入摏碎的舊麵包,那麼就可以不放那麼多肉!!! 下次去歐洲時我也要試試做這個菜。

我們還打趣說,應該讓每個煮飯的客人寫下食譜,拍照記錄,那麼Bertha就可以出版國際食譜大全了!

我們住了三天,每天都有不同的人做菜,而不是每人各自做自己的。而且,我們每晚一起吃晚餐,一直聊天,氣氛真的很開心,還會交流大家的生活,文化,和各自的旅遊經歷,這民宿的確如其他旅客所言一樣,非常神奇的地方!!

By: Jo

We were real idiots….after we arrived in Sucre for two days, we found out surprisingly that the capital of Bolivia is Sucre, not La Paz.

Sucre is a much smaller city, but the houses in the center are very beautiful.  It feels totally different from La Paz.

However, the most interesting part of our stay is the BnB.

We were stuck with traffic on our way in, and therefore were late for two hours and arrived at dinner time.  When we arrived, a man was making vegetable pies, and there was also a Korean girl who arrived just a bit earlier.  We ate the two huge vegetable pies for dinner together, and we chat a lot during dinner.  The man and his girlfriend work in Sucre and are friends of our hosts.  We found out that a lot of guests cook here and they also left behind various sauces and ingredients.  For example, an old Japanese lady comes every year and she would fly to Santa Cruz to buy Japanese ingredients to cook for them.  So, they have even Japanese sushi rice here!

Since we have been treated on the first day, we decided to cook some Chinese food on the second day.  I made a big bowl of fried beef with broccoli, in oyster sauce, and fried hand tear cabbages.  Our host Bertha said she doesn't know how to use the oyster sauce, so, I have use it on the beef.

While I was cooking, I think it would be good to have rice to go with the dishes, and so I asked Bertha.  She went out to buy some rice to cook.  In fact, when I came to Bolivia, I really don’t like the taste of their rice.  I finally know one of the reasons for the different taste.  When they cook the rice, they pour away the water after it has boiled and then rinse the rice twice and replace with new water to continue cooking.  They told me that is because they don’t want the stickiness of the rice… and that may be why I don’t like it.  I have given up on eating rice in Bolivia.

It was a Monday night and the friends did not come.  Instead, we have two new guests from Germany.  Since they had been treated with Chinese food today, they also decided to cook for us the next day!

So, on the third day, we were eating fried meat balls, leek in white sauces and a big bowl of mash potatoes!! Stephanie said that the fried meat balls is a dish she always had when she was a kid.  I learnt that they mix bread crumbs made from old breads into the meat balls so they don't have to put so much meat!  I will have to try making next time I go to Europe.

We were joking that Bertha should ask each guest who cooks here to write down the recipe and take some photos for records.  Then, she can publish a recipe book for international cuisine.

We stayed for three nights and each night, we take turns to cook everyone instead of we all cook for ourselves.  Moreover, we dine together and chat all night, exchanging everything such as our lives, culture, and our travel experience as well!  Like the review of other guests said, this BnB is truly an amazing place!

By: Jo